This story is inspired by "Lori & Clyde" by "The 21st Century Pendragon". I'm probably gonna get flak for this story, but I actually happen to like Lori X Clyde as a ship, so if you don't like the ship, then I suggest you either click the left arrow on the top left-hand corner of the screen or close the tab or window. As for all of you who are fans of the ship, or are otherwise fine with it or neutral on it, enjoy.
Also, incase you were wondering, this is part of it's own timeline set in the universe of the series, so there's no Great Lakes City, no Casagrandes, no Fairway University, and no Ronnie Anne, just a headsup. I'm probably gonna get flak for that too, but whatever.
The sun is setting in Royal Woods, Michigan. Lori is entering through the front door, ecstatic about a date with her boyfriend, Bobby. She and him are planning on having dinner at a new restaurant called "Smerchins", which is having an all-you-can-eat buffet to celebrate the grand-opening.
"I am so happy! Bobby and I are goin' big tonight!" Lori exclaims, clearly happy. "Nothing could possibly ruin it!" As if on queue, Lori's cellphone rings, and she picks up.
"Oh hey Bobby Boo-Boo Bear, I was just about to call you." Lori says.
"Oh hey babe, uh, so..." Bobby says nervously.
"Are you excited about our date? I can hardly wait myself!" Lori shouts before squeeing.
"Yeah, about that..." Bobby continues despondently.
"What? What's going on?"
"I don't think I can make it." Bobby admits.
"What!? I had the whole night planned!" Lori tells him in shock, clearly disappointed.
"Yeah, I got caught up at my new job, these bargain hunters at the dollar store are fierce" Bobby, who is at a dollar store counter, says while looking at some marks on his arm. "One of them even bit me..."
"That's the 20th time this year you've had to cancel dating plans!" Lori tells her boyfriend, clearly frustrated at having been benched on this special night.
"Yeah, I know, and I'm sorry, but-" Bobby is cut off by a redneck with a "God & Guns" T-shirt in his hands grabbing his wrist. "HEY, TAN BOY, YOU GONNA CHECK ME OUT OR DO I HAVE TO CALL THE BORDER PATROL TO TAKE YOU BACK TO MEXICO!?" He says agressively, wanting to check out his shirt and not caring that Bobby is on the phone.
"Sorry, I gotta go." Bobby hangs up.
"Bobby!? BOBBY!?" Lori says, only to find out Bobby hung up. Lori then begins sobbing and rushes to her bedroom and cries into her pillow.
Outside, Lori's mom, Rita, hears Lori crying and goes in to find out what's wrong. "Lori, what's wrong? Didn't you have a date with Bobby tonight?"
"He cancelled. That's the 5th time this month, and the 20th time this year." Lori answers, tears in her eyes. "I had such big plans for it too, we were gonna go to the new restaurant and get the all-you-can-eat buffet."
"Wow, he's really slipping up, huh?" Rita responds.
"Yeah, I'm starting to think our relationship is falling apart, now I'm gonna have to have that buffet all alone."
"Hm, maybe you could bring one of your siblings to share the meal with you." Rita suggests, trying to cheer her daughter up.
"Wait, you don't want any?"
"I would, but Dr. Feinstein asked me to come in late. I know it hurts now, but things will probably get better soon."
"Ok." Lori responds, wiping a tear away from her eye.
"That's my girl. Now I gotta go, don't want Feinstein getting upset with me like the day of the Blacktooth Epidemic." Rita says, clearly wretching from the thought.
"What?"
"Oh don't worry about it, sweetie." Rita says before patting Lori on the head and exiting the room.
Lori first goes to look for her roomate, Leni, who is with Lincoln making a suit for him.
"Uh, hi guys, whatcha up to?" Lori asks.
"Oh hi, Leni's making a Godzilla suit." Lincoln answers.
"Oh, hi Lori" Leni says upon seeing Lori.
"What's all this?" Lori asks.
"I talked the school into doing a play based on the 1954 Godzilla film. I'm playing Godzilla." Lincoln says.
"Anyway, I was gonna ask if one of you wanted to go with me to the new restaurant, but I can see you're-."
Before Lori can finish, Lincoln looks at the arms of the costume.
"Uh, Leni, why are Godzilla's spines on the arms?"
"Isn't that where they are in the film?" Leni answers.
"No, they're on his back."
"Oops, sorry, guess we'll have to do it over."
Lori looks on in disappointment, realizing Leni and Lincoln are too busy to join her. "So I guess that's a no then?" Lori says disappointedly before exiting the room.
Next up was Lynn, the family jock with a big appetite. She hoped she would be joining her so that she wouldn't have to eat herself to the point of popping. However, when she arrived at her room, she saw her talking with Lucy.
"So you really think this spell will give me the strength to lift a car?" Lynn asks.
"I guarantee it" Lucy answers.
Lori sticks her head through the doorway, interrupting the conversation. "Whatcha guys doin'?"
Hearing this, the siblings hide a spellbook and some assorted items under Lucy's bed.
"Uh, just uh, discussing..."
"Edgar Allen Poe!" Lucy answers.
"Well, uh, I can expect you to be into that kinda thing, Lucy, but not you, Lynn."
"Well I found out about this one story where this guy kills an old guy, then starts hearing his heartbeat. Uh, what was it called again, Luce?"
"The Tell-Tale Heart." Lucy answers.
"So, we're gonna be here all night." Lynn adds.
"So, you're busy, because I was gonna ask-" Before Lori could finish, Lynn starts shoving on Lori.
"Yeah, so, we're gonna be here all night, so whatever you wanted to ask, don't bother." Lynn shuts the door behind her, and Lori walks off, disappointed that the sibling with the biggest appetite bailed on her as well.
"Close call, now spell me up, Luce!" Lynn says. "But make sure nobody else barges in either." Lynn adds.
With that, Lucy blocks the door with her coffin, then goes back and gets out the spellbook and items from under her bed.
With Both Leni and Lynn crossed off, Lori approaches Luna, who is listening to Metallica's "Inamorata" and holding a notebook. The rocker is also writing some things down.
"Hey, Luna, whatcha doin'?" Lori wonders, only for Luna to shush her.
"Can't talk right now, I'm in the middle of writing a song. I need to concentrate like a rock." Luna tells her eldest sister.
"So this is how it's literally gonna be, huh? You've got secrets to hide?" Lori complains.
"I'm sorry, but I'm gonna be here a while, so if you don't like it, well it's too late now." With that, Lori shuts the door, and Luna returns to her notebook. "Hm never, clever, forever. Oh, forever!" Luna begins writing some things down. She's writing a song for a memorial show at the lake for recently-deceased rocker Jimmy Livmister, a personal friend of Luna's idol, Mick Swagger.
Lori, running out of options, now wants to try her luck with her pageant-star sister, Lola. Although she's not the nicest member of the Loud family, she's always up for anything classy. However, when she sees her 6-year old sister, she is with her twin, Lana, their genius sister, Lisa, and Lily.
Lola is practicing for the Gentle-Hand Pageant, and has asked Lana and Lisa to help her prepare.
"Who's my favorite baby sister? You are!" Lola is baby-talking to Lily.
"So, how are you all doing?"
"Lola asked us to help her for a new pageant." Lana answers.
"That's right. Lilly here is gonna help me win." Lola adds on before booping Lily on the nose, and Lily giggles in response. Lori, clearly disappointed that more of her sisters are busy, so now she has one last option, which she hoped wouldn't be...
Lori approaches Luan, who is in the bathroom getting her clown uniform ready. She has a late-night show at the newly-opened Comedy Central pub.
"Hey, what's the BUZZ?" holds up her hand, revealing a paper bee in her hand, and she laughs. "Get it?" Lori rolls her eyes at yet another one of Luan's bad jokes.
"Hey, Luan, uh, are you busy?"
"I've got a show at the new pub. It's gonna be a HOOT!" Luan takes out an owl mask and puts it on as she delivers her joke. Lori, out of options, just steps out and leaves Luan to her bad comedy.
Later, Lori is sitting on the couch upset.
"Can I just have ONE thing go right tonight? Just one?" Lori says dramatically, hoping that something, ANYTHING, will go good for her. But then, as if the universe was responding to her request, a knock comes from the door. After a few unanswered knocks, Lori just gets up to answer the door in frustration, finding Lincoln's best friend and confidante, Clyde. "Oh..."
Clyde, who usually goes head-over-heels over Lori, tries to compose himself upon seeing the girl he's been crushing over for a long time. "Hey, uh, is Linc around?"
"He's with Leni working on a Godzilla costume." Lori answers. "Why? You wanna hang out with him or something?"
"Well, no, but, yes. I don't know. If he's busy, I'll come back." Clyde, disappointed that his best friend is busy, turns around and walks away, but Lori, feeling bad for Clyde, follows him and puts a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, how 'bout you come to dinner with me?" Lori asks.
"Dinner?" Clyde asks back.
"Yeah, I had plans for a date with Bobby, but he was busy, the 20th time this year he's backed out. I asked my sisters to come, but they're busy too, so I thought maybe you could. It's ok if you don't want to, but-" Before Lori could finish speaking, Clyde raises his head.
"I'll take it!" Clyde accepts Lori's invitation in a heartbeat.
"You sure?" Lori asks.
"I've been dreaming of this day since the day Lincoln introduced me to you!"
"Well, can you not do all that romance stuff? I don't want people to think we're strange."
"Ok, whatever you say."
"Wait right here." Lori goes back inside to ready herself.
Clyde, clearly happy to have been invited to dinner by the girl he has shown unrequited affection for, begins hopping around joyfully, and after a few minutes, Lori comes out wearing a black knee-length dress, a gold, diamond-shaped pendant on gold pearls, Lapis Lazuli earrings, and black high-heels. When Clyde sees Lori, he looks on in awe. "You're beautiful."
"Hm, I figured you'd compliment me, now let's go." Lori offers her hands to Clyde. "But remember, keep the compliments to a minimum."
"Got it." Clyde takes Lori's hand, but is disappointed that only part of his imagined time with Lori had come true. "I wish Bobby was here so I could rub this in his face!"
Neither Lori nor Clyde know that this night will play out in ways nobody could expect.